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Luminous
The lumini are a race of pround and noble warriors for good. Appearance A luminous' body is infused with positive energy. They say that they were once very similar to humans in appearance, but through the Gift of White their bodies became infused with positive energy, that they called life essence. Their bodies glow with a white/yellow energy and it is nearly impossible for other races to distinguish any facial features. They do have them, however, and luminous have no difficulty distinguishing between one another. If they were to remove the glow, they say they look like humans but with sharper and more beautiful features, similar to elves, although they don't have elven eyes or ears. These features are just like humans. They have hair but, just like their other features, it is impossible to tell what color it is. They stand about the same height and have a similar body structure as humans, and from a distance are easily mistaken as humans if you otherwise can't see the glow. History Daridos and the Gift of White Luminous don't talk much about their history, especial their origin. What they have talked about is clouded and vague at best. They tell me that their world was filled with positive energy. How it came to be that way is written in their holy text and according to it, their ancestors were taught by their god Adonai how to tap into the positive energy, which they call life essence, and infuse their race with it. They say that this granted them long, nearly immortal lives and nearly perfect bodies. The prophet Daridos is the most revered luminous ever to exist. He was the first to receive "The Gift of White" and was the first Hanav. The story goes, long ago the world was divided and the luminous were much like the humans (perhaps even human). They lived separately in thirty-six nations and the world was filled with sin. Adonai came to one man, Daridos, and spoke to him saying "My people sin and yet I still love them. You shall go unto them and preach my word and those that listen shall be saved and deaf ears shall be damned." So Daridos went unto the people and spoke to all thirty and six nations of the people and fifteen listened and fifteen turned him away. The remaining six listened but did not hear his word. Although they did not turn him away and allowed him to preach, they also did not embrace the word of Adonai. Those that followed Daridos and the word of the Lord formed together. The deaf fifteen saw this and were threatened. They formed together as well to oppose the faithful. The deaf fifteen went to the six and attempted to coerce them to join them. The six refused and the deaf fifteen invaded their nations and slew them all. By the time the faithful found out it was too late. The deaf fifteen raised the six as half living monsters and attacked the faithful with their new army of dead. The fifteen were able to fight off the dead six but every one of the faithful that died also rose again and refilled the ranks of the six. Many years of war ravaged both sides and soon both sides were beginning to dwindle. Unfortunately, every luminous that fell rose again under the command of the deaf fifteen. Daridos poke to Adonai asking for his help, "Lord, I do as thy command and your people are slain and their bodies are abominations. I beg you, Oh Lord, for the strength to slay your enemies that we should live on to worship you in your grace and power and light." This prayer was heard and Adonai responded, "Hanav, you and those who walk with you shall be blessed and from this day and for all days they shall be born with the essence of life which is the enemy of your enemy as they possess the essence of anti-life. They shall be struck down with the lightest of blows and a shout will engulf them in light that burns and they shall be slain again." The exact method to which Daridos was gifted the White is unclear but from that point on he was the luminous as they are today. He spread the gift to his people and with their new abilities they were able to devastate the army of dead that ravaged their lands. They slew the deaf that continued to fight, and some even joined and worshiped Adonai, although the book is very clear that they never received the Gift of White and their kind died out over time. The fifteen faithful nations went on to become the fifteen Shivats that are apart of luminous society now. The Coming of the Beast The story talks about a creature and its lieutenants coming to their world from the void. This creature is only known as The Beast. He is a devourer of worlds and bringer of darkness. He is the essence of anti-life and bringer of death. They fought The Beast for many years. None can say exactly how long. The Beast and its minions sieged the world and eventually destroyed their capital city. It was at this point that they knew they were going to lose their world, and the remainder of their race fled through on ships to other worlds. A New Home and a Fall from Perfection A few thousand ended up on Galea in 108 AC. They have since built themselves a settlement and started rebuilding their society in north western Dwordocath. So far they have remained out of the way of other nations and races, but they are getting bigger now, and that means more chances to interact with others. The new home was not without its drawbacks. Galea, while very in touch with the positive energy plane, is not infused with it like their home world. Because of that, their bodies are far more frail than they used to be. They are suseptible to things they used to never be, such as poison and disease. They are still highly resistant to these things, but for the first time in known luminous history they have felt the cold sting of true mortality. Society & Culture Very little is known about Luminous society. The follow are excerpts taken from a young mage's encounter with them when he was allowed into their capital to help spread the word of their people. The document was written in 110 A.C. and titled Luminous, Our New Neighbors. Society New Home Little is known about the luminous before they arrived on Galea, but I have seen that they arrived in a Conduit ship. This ship is their capital city they call Hati'korva, which I have been told means hope. They built it to run from beings they call H'shed, which I have been able to roughly translate to devils, although by their description they are definitely not baatezu or any other Baator dwelling being. When I spoke of Hell they had no idea what I was referring to, so I believe H'shed just means evil beings. The exact number of luminous now on Galea is unknown but I estimate to be around 15,000. The ship they came on is several miles long and could easily hold more than that. They founded a new nation, calling it Hadamia Motan, which they say means "The Land of Their Death" in Lumin, "their" being the luminous. They believe they have been punished by Adonai for not being able to defend their home. It's also possible that this is what they're calling Galea as a whole, but for now they're content with using that name in reference to the lands they now own. The People The Luminous obviously don't revere any god of ours, as they are from a different world, but their deity is quite similar to a cross between Taija, Solus, and Joram. They call him Adonai most of the time, although other words have been heard in reference to him. I is believe that Adonai is his name, but it is also possible it is a title and they don't speak of him by name. I have heard in my wanderings of the blaspheme of using their god's name in vain, but perhaps this just means using it as a curse or in non-religious talks. I'm not certain. Religion is at the center of their society structure, and they use it to show rank within their society. Luminous seem to be grouped together in clans or families and the leader of these are the Riibu, which seem to be similar to tribal shamans. They are spiritual teachers, yet seem to be an authority on law. The Luminous' social structure is intricate. I have not fully grasped it, but what I do know will be better laid out in the section on their religion. The Twelve Shivats Luminous society is broken up into what they call Shivats. The best I can tell, these Shivats are families, clans, or tribes. All within a Shivat refer to themselves by their name of the shivat. For example, one I spoke to was Daln Sidal Sobri which means Sidal Sobri of the Shivat of Daln. The Shivat's all have certain specialties, but no Shivat is greater than another. The following is a list of the Shivats. *Ashra *Be'jiran *Daln *Gahrada *Epharim *Illikyr *Juluh *Menassa *Nalphalti *Riban *Simeron *Zebuun There are two groups that are not called Shivats. They are separate and hold special positions within the church, details in the religion section. These are also hereditary family titles. They are generally considered by the populous as holier than the twelve Shivats. *Kohein *Levai On a side note, I heard briefly one comment of a thirteenth Shivat, but when I asked about it no one was willing to give any information and was generally met with a polite change of subject. After a couple inquiries I decided to drop the subject. Religion Due to the Luminous' origins, they do not worship any of the native Galean pantheon. Instead they have a unique dualistic religion where they worship a being they call Adonai. Adonai embodies all that is good and taught them the way to be one with the life essence. They believe in an ultimate evil they call the Bemot, which seems to translate to simple The Beast, Bemot's followers are H'shed. He is the darkness and the embodiment of the anti-life or dark essence. They do have a gathering place which they all worship together. They call this building Synogel, which best as I can tell means "house of god." This building is obviously akin to our temples or churches. I was told that in their home they came from there was a single grand building that was the central building of their worship where the Hanav spoke to Adonai and rituals were performed. One such ritual is animal sacrifice. I find it hard to believe that such a good people once ritualistically slaughtered animals. Either way, they don't do it now because they have no where to do it. Religion is the central point of their society. Their cultural leaders are also their spiritual ones. As best as I can find, there is a pecking order, but it is more complicated than "one above the other above the next." It seems that in certain areas, one can have domain over another, while in another area the same is reversed. This is a comprehensive list (as well as I can make it out to be) of their religious sociocultural structure from "top" to bottom. *'Zeddiik -' These people are obviously the highest in the social pecking order. There are currently two, although I've been told that this was not always the case. They are Zeddiik'ma and Zeddiik'en who I believe may be husband and wife respectively. They seem the be the most powerful individuals, both socially and physically. They are said to contain the power of Adonai and from what I can tell they are very powerful clerics. I want to compare them to king and queens by divine right like those of feudal lands we're used to, but when they enter a Synogel they act as if they are equal to everyone in the congregation that are not leading prayer. *'Hanav -' This person is the leader of the religion as a whole. It is said that only the Hanav can speak directly to Adonai, but he was killed in the final war with the H'shed and Adonai has not appointed another. This is the main reason the luminous believe that they have been forsaken by Adonai. *'Riibu -' The closest I can come to translating this is High Priest, but they don't hold the same position as a priest in our society. They are masters of law and also guide others of the population. This is obviously a higher position that a Ruubai, as I have been told, as all Riibu are chosen from the ranks of Ruubai. The Riibu also seem to be the leaders of the Shivats. There are only twelve Riibu at the moment, but when I asked about them being the Shivat leaders, I was met with confusion. *'Ruubai -' They seem to hold a similar position as a shaman or sage. They are masters of luminous law and lead groups in teaching their religion. They are similar to priests, but they do not lead prayer or a congregation within the Synogel. *'Chizza -' They are like priests in that they lead a congregation within a Synogel in prayer and study. They are dissimilar to priest in that they seem to do little else and tend to have normal jobs and positions within society outside of the Synogel. Perhaps they have normal people lead? *'Kohein -' The closest approximation is knight. They are the strength and arm of the church, but they are also renowned within the church as sacred and holy. They are similar to Paladins of the Church of Light. *'Levai -' The Levai are the keepers of the Synogel. They are responsible for the upkeep of the buildings. This seems to be a very respected group even though they don't seem to hold any sort of power within the church. Technology Luminous technological level seems similar to that of most of central Xepher. For armor, they favor plated armors. Plate, half plate, breast plate, and the like are commonly seen. They exclusively wear armores made from a material they say is native to their planet. They call it bahir-peladah, which roughly translates to brightsteel. It is a golden hued metal that does not exist on Galea. It is similarly strengthed as mythral, with weight similar to steal. The property that sets it apart from other materials is its ability to assist in channeling positive energy. Thy also have strange crystals can store energy and that glow different colors depending on the type of energy stored within. They call these crystals toqephine, meaning power or energy crystal. They commonly use these crystals as weapons or within their buildings as energy sources. On impact it expends energy to further harm their opponents. Relations In the decade that they have been on Galea they have ventured a little in search of new lands, and new people to trade with. Their first encounter with another species was with the shokhan of Dwordocath. They attempted to be peaceful with them, but the shokhan's nature as dominant slavers took over and the luminous quickly realized there were no friends in the shokhan people. Small fights broke out but never war. The shokhan realized they could not enslave the luminous and they in turn realized there was no defeating the shokhan empire. The luminous turned to the seas and eventually found the elves of Aeonil, and then the rest of the Federation. They established trade routes and quickly built up their nation. While they seem to trust the other races, they are understandably hesitant to open their new home to anyone. Adventurers Luminous adventure for several reasons. They adventure to expand their nation's influence, to meet new people, or simply for the sake of adventuring. Alchemist: Barbarian: Bard: Cavalier: ''' '''Cleric: Druid: Fighter: Inquisitor: Monk: Oracle: ''' '''Paladin: Ranger: ''' '''Rogue: Sorcerer: Summoner: Witch: Wizard: Racial Traits *'+2 Wisdom, +2 Charisma' *'Medium': A luminous has no bonuses or penalties due to their size. *'Positive Energy Infusion:' Luminous gain resistance 5 against negative energy damage. They do not take any penalties from energy draining effects, though still can die if it accrues more negative levels than it has hit dice. After 24 hours, any negative levels a luminous has accrued are removed without the need to make any additional saving throws. They gain a +4 racial bonus on saving throws against death effects, negative energy, spells or spell-like abilities of the necromancy school, and Constitution checks to stabilize. *'Positive Energy Conduit:' Luminous' connection to the positive energy plane allows them to conduct it through their body more freely. When casting a spell of the conjuration (healing) subschool, using channel energy or lay on hands, or otherwise using positive energy to heal living creatures or deal damage to undead, the luminous does so at a +1 effective level, whether that be caster level or class level for determining its effects. A luminous may never channel negative energy. *'Pristine Body: '''Luminous gain a +4 bonus on Fortitude saves against disease and poison, including magical diseases. *'Body Glow: A luminous' body faintly glows a white/yellow light. This provides illumination like a candle. The luminous may never benefit from any kind of concealment due to natural light levels and receives a -4 penalty to stealth checks. *'''Fast Healing: A luminous has fast healing 1. *'Languages:' A luminous begins play knowing Dwordo and Lumin. A lumin with a high intelligence score may learn a language from the following list; Celestial, Elven, Dwarven, Minotaur, or a regional language. Alternate Racial Traits Luminous currently have no alternate racial traits. All Luminous are born and raised the same. Alternate Favored Class *Cleric - Choose a 1st level domain ability usable 3 + Wis times per day. Gain +1/2 uses of that ability. *Monk - Add +1/4 to the monk's Ki pool. *Oracle - Add +1/2 to the oracle's level for determining the affects of the oracle's curse ability. *Paladin: The paladin receives a +1/2 to damage vs. undead with melee and ranged attacks. Alternate Classes *Luminous Channeler - Cleric *Master of Energy - Monk Prestige Classes *The Avedae Racial Feats *Enhanced Healing *Extend Glow *Extreme Glow *Supress Glow